AIME MAEGHT DIES

AIME MAEGHT DIES; ART DEALER WAS 75

By C. GERALD FRASER

Published: September 7, 1981

Aime Maeght, a printer who became one of the Western world's most influential art dealers, died of cancer Saturday in his villa at St. Paul-de-Vence, France. He was 75 years old.

During more than 50 years as an art dealer, Mr. Maeght - pronounced Mahg - represented such leading European artists as Joan Miro, Marc Chagall, Alberto Giacometti, Henri Matisse, Pierre Bonnard and Georges Braque. He often selected artists who had as yet little or no reputation, such as Braque and Giacometti, as well as those considered controversial. He once said that he chose Braque over Pablo Picasso because ''Picasso wanted exclusivity, and he was demanding.''

Much of his success as a dealer was attributed to his wife, the late Marguerite Maeght, who was described by a family friend as ''a fantastic salesman.''

There are Maeght galleries in Paris, New York, Barcelona and Zurich, a publishing house in Paris an d at St . Paul-de-Vence, the Foundation Marguerite et Aime Maeght, a museu m and leading cultural attraction on France's Cote d'Azur. It Began With Chevalier Concert

As a youth, Mr. Maeght studied art and music. His first commercial encounter in the art world came in 1930, when Bonnard came to his Cannes shop and had Mr. Maeght print a program for a Maurice Chevalier concert with a Bonnard lithograph. After the programs were produced, Mr. Maeght put the lithograph in the print-shop window. A quick sale encouraged the artist to give him a second picture.

Mr. Maeght made his Paris debut as a major art dealer on the Rue de Teheran in 1945, after World War II. On sale were all the paintings done by Matisse during the war.

At the Paris gallery, Mr. Maeght encouraged artists to produce lithographs in his printing atelier. ''With more than 1.5 million apartments a year being constructed in Europe with three rooms and 12 walls,'' he once said, ''I got the idea that great painters should do limited series of lithos so that the greatest number of people could buy it.'' One writer said this helped ''democratize'' art.

His publishing has included an art magazine, L'Art Vivant, and poetry journals as well as art books. A Pool With Braque Mosaics

In 1953, Braque suggested that Mr. Maeght provide an ideal environment for the display of artists' work. The result was the foundation, designed by Jose Luis Sert. The museum, on a hilltop overlooking the Mediterranean, is one of the few in Europe built specifically as a museum. It contains a pool with mosaics by Braque, lamps and doorknobs by Giacometti and a fountain by Miro. It has attacted more than two million visitors in its 17 years.

In its permanent collection are works by Jean Arp, Bonnard, Chagall, Sam Francis, Wassily Ka ndinsky, Ellsworth Kelly and Fernand Leger. There have been poetry readings, dance and music programs there. A chap el is dedicated to St. Bernard in memory of Mr. Maeght'sson Bernard, who died at the age of 11.

Mr. Maeght is survived by another son, Adrien, and a daughter, Sylvie, both of Paris.